


Travel Companions

by TorScrawls



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mission Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-01-04 09:48:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18341204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TorScrawls/pseuds/TorScrawls
Summary: Kakashi is trying to get used to a life outside of Anbu and Gai does his best to be there for him, but helping the village always comes first.





	1. Chapter 1

Kakashi leaned against a tree at the outskirts of the village, reading a book and trying not to think.

Two months had passed since Kakashi quit— no, was made to leave— Anbu, and if he was being honest with himself, he didn't really know what to do with himself. He had accepted the offer to try and coach gennin teams out of a desperate need to feel useful— but none of the teams he had taken on so far had shown enough promise to make up for the fear of failing them. Like he knew he eventually would.

To give himself less time to think Kakashi had taken to signing up for extra mission whenever he could, taking every chance he got to try and prove that he was still an asset to the village— still useful. He didn't know who he was trying to convince anymore.

"Eternal rival!" A sudden loud voice interrupted the quiet— accompanied by the sound of hastily approaching footsteps.

Kakashi made a show of sighing and he refused to look up from his book, even as he was silently grateful for being pulled out of his own thought. "What?"

"What are you doing here?" Gai asked in an annoyingly happy voice.

After all these years, Kakashi was still waiting for the other shoe to drop and for Gai to realize that Kakashi wasn't worth his energy. He turned a page. "Reading."

"Oh! Training one's mind is a most admirable pastime! When you have finished this exercise, do you want to join me in my 300 laps around the village?"

"No, Gai. I don't want to join you."  _Leave me alone,_ he didn't say out loud— hoping that Gain would, for once, catch on.

A face was suddenly thrust in front of the book in his hand, blinding smile and round eyes looking up at him. "Okay! Then I will return here when I have finished my invigorating exercise!"

"Why?" Kakashi muttered under his breath, shifting to the side and away from the sudden invasion of his personal space.

Gai tilted his head in obvious confusion. "What did you say? I couldn't hear you!"

Kakashi let out a barely audible sigh, lowering his book for the first time since Gai interrupted him and raised his eyes instead to meet Gai's. "Why are you coming back?"

Gai's confusion was exchanged for a big, blinding, smile in a second. "Because I want to!"

Kakashi didn't have an answer to that, only more conflicting emotions that he refused to acknowledge. He frowned as he looked back down at his book, settling on wishing for Gai to simply go away.

Gai took a running step before freezing in place, balancing on one foot as he turned back to Kakashi "Oh! I was also going to ask, I heard you failed another team?"

"Yes.".

Gai's smile looked a bit more forced as he stood up straight in front of Kakashi. "You can't keep failing all the bright-eyed students you take on!"

The concerned voice made Kakashi's gratefulness flicker and die. He should have known better

Kakahsi made sure to turn a page and pretend to let his eyes scan the words in front of him, speaking in a bored voice, "Why? I'm the teacher. I decide."

Gai's didn't answer this as he looked at Kakashi with a hesitant expression, and it only served to make Kakashi angrier. How dared he make the Hokage throw him out of Anbu only to complain when he didn't do this new job like he wanted?

Kakashi snapped his book shut and did his best to keep the anger out of his voice as he looked at Gai. "Well, this should make you happy. You've clearly beaten me when it comes to the number of students you've allowed to pass. You win this one."

"Rival! That's not it at all!"

"Isn't it?" Kakashi bit out, cursing himself for the emotion in his voice. He was better than that. He straightened up and turned around, making sure his voice was neutral as he said, "I have to go."

"Kakashi!"

Kakashi bristled at hearing Gai use his real name. "Enough! I have a mission to prepare for. Move."

"It's always good to keep your skills fresh!" Gai said, not moving from where he stood in front of him. "But didn't you come home from a mission just yesterday?"

Kakashi simply nodded in silence, keeping his face carefully blank.

Gai's smile didn't die down, but is seemed to freeze in place as he kept his intense gaze locked on Kakashi's face.

"When are you going to take some time off?" Gai asked and there was forced cheer in his voice this time.

Kakashi cursed inwardly— sometimes Gai was surprisingly insightful. Outwardly he laughed, "I never thought I would hear you say that."

"Rest is just as vital as exercise when in comes to a healthy lifestyle!"

Kakashi shrugged and pocketed his book, pushing off from the tree and dusting off his pants.

"Kakashi."

Kakashi looked up and there was no trace of the smile on Gai's face now— so Kakashi smiled beneath his mask and made sure it was visible in his eye. He didn't want to talk about this. Least of all with Gai and his concerned eyes and unabashed emotions. Kakashi stretched the smile into a grin as he responded, "You know what they say: a ninken needs to bite."

"You're not a dog," Gai bit out, and Kakashi's grin died down at the sudden anger in the other's voice.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, his voice tired and more than a little angry as the smile vanished from his face, "It doesn't matter. I am going to help my village any way I can."

"And that is most admirable!" Gai proclaimed, but his usual smile was still missing. "But you have a duty to yourself as well."

"That's rich coming from you," Kakashi said with a voice that was too cheerful and with words designed to hit where it hurt, "the person who got me kicked out from the one place where I served the village well."

Kakashi felt a dark sense of satisfaction at seeing Gai look down on the ground. "I still think it was the right choice. Your youthful soul is too kind for those kinds of missions."

"Missions are missions, you can't pick and choose. Besides, it's not a matter of what I want. It's a matter of what's best for the village."

"But you're part of the village!"

Kakashi scoffed and turned around— this conversation was pointless. He mercilessly ignored the part of himself that was grateful to Gai for essentially getting him kicked out of Anbu and giving him an opportunity to try and break the black spiral his life had taken, instead choosing to feed into the larger part of himself that was angry at Gai for going behind his back about it. For helping in taking away his only purpose in life.

He was halted by something grabbing his sleeve and looked back to see Gai holding on to his arm with a serious expression on his face.

"I can come with you on the mission!"

"That not how it works. You know that."

"We can ask the Hokage—"

"Drop it." Kakashi jerked his arm towards himself and felt Gai let go of his sleeve. "Weren't you going to go running?"

Gai opened his mouth, only to close it again.

Kakashi waved his hand and made a conscious effort to soften his voice as he spoke again, "Go."

Gai gave a short nod before taking off, screaming over his shoulder, "I'll be back before you know it!"

Kakashi watched Gai disappear between the trees and frowned as he realized that he didn't feel as annoyed as he wanted to. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and took off, no matter what he felt, he had better things to do than to stand around and wait for people to continue meddling in his business. He had a mission to prepare for.

* * *

 

Kakashi winced as he slowly opened the window to his apartment, cradling his right arm close to his chest and hoping that he had stemmed the blood flow well enough as to not leave a trail. The Hokage hadn't said anything during his report, so he was sure it couldn't be that bad.

He carefully disabled the traps he had set up before he left, ignoring the way his hands shook from exhaustion and pain. He allowed himself a small sigh of relief when the last trap was disabled and he eased himself into the room.

Kakashi wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep for days, but he had weapons and clothes to clean. He made a move as if to remove a porcelain mask covering his face before remembering that it was still hidden away. Instead, he settled for taking off his top and taking a first good look at the wound on his arm. The kunai had gone fairly deep; the gash stretching half his forearm. Maybe he shouldn't have ripped it out so forcefully.

Kakashi briefly considered going to the hospital before pushing that thought aside and locating his medical kit from under the sink. No use in bothering anyone over something this small, and besides— he had no wish to talk to anyone right now.

Kakashi sent his bed a longing look before taking a deep breath and starting to clean up the wound, stitching it as evenly as possible with only his left hand to work with.

Dressing the wound went quick, and when it was done Kakashi gratefully peeled off the rest of his clothes and cleaned the blood off with methodical movements. He carefully folded everything and put it away for later, ignoring the white mask staring back at him accusingly. He would have use of it soon, he was sure— no matter how much some people in his life tried to make sure there wasn't.

Kakashi diligently cleaned of his weapons, trying to erase every trace of the mission. He put them away and dragged himself into the shower, ignoring the way his body screamed for rest.

The smell of blood seemed to be stuck in his nose, and no matter how much he scrubbed himself the water still ran red. He knew it was his mind playing tricks on him— something it always seemed especially fond of doing right after he returned from a mission, which was every other day nowadays.

Kakashi fell into the bed barely conscious, so it took a while before he realized that he hadn't fallen asleep immediately. He groaned as he got back up, stumbled over to his newly-cleaned weapons, pulled out a kunai, and stumbled back to bed. He closed his eyes and fell asleep almost instantly— keeping a tight grip on the kunai beneath his pillow.

A sudden sound startled Kakashi awake, and he sat up in bed, panting and sweating— kunai poses in front of him and ready to strike. He sent a quick look at the window and relaxed slightly as he saw that it was still closed. He scanned the room as he tried to force himself to wake up— it felt as if he had gone to bed mere seconds ago.

A knock at the door made Kakashi start. So  _that's_  what woke him up. "Rival! Are you in there?!"

Kakashi relaxed at the familiar voice, doing his best to calm his breathing and school his expression into its usual passivity as he got out of bed with slow movements. He pressed his lips into a thin line as his whole body protested the action.

The thought to ignore Gai and go back to sleep was discarded as soon as it formed in his head; Gai wouldn't give up until he answered the door, it was better to get it over with.

Kakashi grabbed his face-mask and as he pulled it on he wondered what Gai could possibly want with him in the middle of the night.

Then he thought back on their last conversation, and the confusion morphed into dread— what if Gai wanted to continue to try and meddle in Kakashi's life? He barely remembered to pull on a pair of pants and a long sleeved shirt to cover his bandaged arm before stumbling over to the door and prying it open and inch.

Gai's smile almost outshone the glaring mid-day sun. Kakashi raised a hand to shield his tired eyes.  _Not_ the middle of the night then.

"My rival! You are back!" Gai said in a voice that was too loud for the short distance between them and the ache in Kakashi's head. The pillow-creases on his face hadn't begun to fade yet and he already couldn't wait for this day to end.

Kakashi sighed and opened the door fully. "Very observant of you, Gai."

"Was your mission an astounding success? A fitting tribute to your youthful skills?"

"I completed it." Kakashi felt a sense of calm spread over him at the familiar conversation, relieved that Gai didn't continue where they left off last time, or brought up the fact that Kakashi had left before Gai had returned from his run.

"Just what I expected of my eternal rival!" Gai clapped Kakashi on the back and Kakashi sucked in a breath as it jostled his aching body and reminded him of the numerous bruises he had received the day before.

Gai sent a quick look over his shoulder before pushing inside the apartment and turning to Kakashi with narrowed eyes. "Are you hurt?" He asked in a tone of voice resembling a whisper.

Kakashi felt a flare of something dangerously close to gratitude and affection at the apparent attempt at discretion— something Gai didn't personally value as high as he should, but knew that Kakashi did. It would be so easy to just say yes…  _Shinobi rule number 21: A shinobi must never show any weakness_. "No, I'm not hurt."

Kakashi ruthlessly pressed his emotions back down where they belonged. He was a shinobi of the hidden leaf— a weapon and a tool. He had no business wanting comfort or sympathy from others.

Gai kept his eyes on him for a few quiet seconds and Kakashi fought the instinct to push the other back out the door— injuries be damned. He only held back because he knew that it would work against him in convincing Gai that he was fine. Instead he settled for raising an eyebrow and giving a short, barking, laugh. "Why? Did you come all the way over here just to check in on me?"

Gai hesitated at that and Kakashi had enough time to regret his words before he was saved by another knock on the still-open door.

Kakashi kept his eyes on the floor as he squeezed past Gai to get to the door and was met by the serious face of one of the chunin he recognized as working in the Hokage's office.

She wasted no time before stating, "The Hokage wants to see you."

Kakashi nodded and discreetly pulled his sleeve down further to make sure his bandages were covered. He couldn't refuse a request from the Hokage, no matter how much he wanted to throw Gai out, slam the door, and go back to sleep.

"Well, I have to go," Kakashi said over his shoulder to Gai with as casual a voice as he could muster. Gai looked back at him with furrowed brows that made Kakashi glad for the escape. He would have to make sure to avoid Gai in the near future. Kakashi turned around and grabbed the door handle. "You're going to stay in here?"

Gai shook himself before producing a smile that almost a managed to convince Kakashi that nothing would come of this. "No, I'm heading out for my morning exercise." Gai put his hand on Kakashi's shoulder as he walked out of the apartment and Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the lack of force behind it.

Kakashi locked his apartment up and turned to walk away at the same time as he heard the chunin speak up again, "Oh, Mr. Gai. I'm glad you're here, you save me some work. The Hokage wanted…"

Kakashi decided to not wait around, he wanted this over as soon as possible, so he wasted no more time before body-flickering away, leaving the other two to continue their conversation without him.

When he arrived outside the Hokage's office he was grateful that it was as empty as it got with the ever present Anbu keeping watch; using body-flicker when his energy levels were as low as they were right now was not the best choice of action. He didn't particularly care for the thought of more people than necessary seeing him stumble.

Kakashi took a couple of deep breaths, squared his shoulders, and pushed open the big doors— trying to simultaneously push down on the feeling of jealousy that rose up inside him at the thought of the hidden guards. He would be back there soon enough.

The Hokage sat behind his desk, reading through a scroll in his hand.

Kakashi stopped in front of the desk and inclined his head. "Lord Hokage."

The Hokage put the scroll down on the desk and looked up at Kakashi, the morning sun casting warm shadows across his tired face. "I hadn't planned on calling you back here so soon."

That was as good as an apology and Kakashi re-evaluated his earlier presumption that the Hokage hadn't noticed his injury.

"I'm glad to serve the village in any way I can, anytime."

"I know," the Hokage said with a sigh and Kakashi had to make a conscious decision to keep the frown off his face. That was not the reaction he had expected. Kakashi felt a sudden dread stiffen his spine.

"If my service to the village hasn't been satisfactory—"

The Hokage raised a hand and Kakashi cut himself off. "No, nothing like that. I have a new mission for you."

A mission. Relief flooded his system as Kakashi relaxed his tense shoulders.

"Before your last mission you were briefed about the group of rogue shinobi from the Land of Sound that has been spotted around Konoha lately."

It wasn't a question, but Kakashi nodded. The Hokage continued, "They seem to be venturing closer to the village every day. The scouting group you encountered and took care of yesterday is proof that they are now willing to attack us and the likelihood of them doing so again is too great. I have tasked most shinobi that are chunin level or above with short scouting missions to measure the threat, and to verify where the main group is located. It's time we put an end to this."

Kakashi's aching arm and body reminded him of the danger this group posed. If the Hokage needed him to go out in the field again to make sure this threat was dealt with as quickly as possible, then he would gladly do so. "What do you need me to do?"

"I need you to help out with patrolling the village."

Kakashi felt himself deflate. "Patrol?"

"Patrol," the Hokage repeated with a nod. "We're at bit short on manpower these days and we need to make sure that none of the rogue shinobis from the Land of Sound are approaching Konoha. A lot of other teams weren't as lucky as yours when they ran into scouting parties and the hospital is almost full."

"I can help take out the main group and prevent any more attacks," Kakashi said and hoped that he didn't sound as desperate as he feared he did. He hadn't been put on patrol-duty since he'd been a genin, and he was sure that he would be able to help out

"Right now," the Hokage said with a pointed look at Kakashi's wounded right arm, "I think you would be of better use on a small patrol team. You'll report back in two days. The rest of the information is in here." The Hokage picked up the scroll he had been holding when Kakashi entered the office and as he held it out for Kakashi. His serious expression morphed into a smile. "And after this mission I order you to take a couple of days off. I have no use of a shinobi who can barely stay on his feet"

"…As you wish."

The Hokage gave a short nod and the smile on his face faded back into a serious expression. "If you come across something or someone, send word and avoid confrontation if possible. Information gathering takes priority, and above all else; if you do find something, make sure  _they_  don't find out about it. We can't allow them to have the time to prepare a defense."

Kakashi nodded. "I understand."

"I knew you would." The Hokage looked back down at his desk and started reading the next scroll in the pile.

Kakashi gave a short bow— knowing when he was being excused— and exited the office. He wasn't surprised to find Gai waiting outside.

"Rival! Did you have a joyous meeting with the great Hokage?"

"You'll see," Kakashi said with a wave of his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I've been wanting to write something for Naruto for a looong time, and Kakashi and Gai can always use some attention :)
> 
> I will try and update soon! Since I've never written these characters before, I would love to know what you think :)
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the read!


	2. Chapter 2

Kakashi went right home to begin packing. It wasn't long before someone was at his door again, knocking loudly and insistently enough to only be one person. Kakashi ignored it and, sure enough, not even a full minute had passed before the person on the other side of the door lost patience and flung it open—Gai making his entrance with an annoyingly big smile on his face. "I heard the great news! Are you packing?"

Kakashi sent a look down at the small bag on his bed and the equipment surrounding it and raised an eyebrow in Gai's direction. Gai seemed unperturbed as he started jogging in place with the smile still in place. "Wasting no time I see! You're fast as always, rival! Can you imagine? A youthful patrol together around our beautiful village! What an excellent turn of events!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes as he turned his back to Gai, not willing to let the other see the small smile that spread over his face at the other's enthusiasm. It was infectious. He made sure his voice was devoid of emotions as he answered, "The village is in danger, how is that excellent?"

"Even if the circumstances aren't great, I have no doubt that our combined youthful energy will make us the best patrollers Konoha's ever seen! We should celebrate with a challenge!"

"We should prepare to go out," Kakashi said decisively, waving a hand over his shoulder in a dismissive gesture. "I'll meet you at the main gate in half an hour."

"That's a great challenge, rival! I bet I'll get there first!"

"I don't care."

"So cool…" Gai trailed off with tears in his eyes before raising his hands in his trademark "good-guy-pose", blinding smile and all. "But I'll show you! No one is faster at packing than the blue beast of Konoha!"

Kakashi opened his mouth to reply, but Gai beat him too it, shouting over his shoulder as he ran back out of the apartment, "Don't get too disappointed when I leave you in the dust, rival!"

The banging of the door slamming shut echoed in the suddenly empty and quiet apartment.

If Kakashi packed slightly faster after that, no one had to know.

* * *

 

When Kakashi arrived at the gate Gai was already standing under it— or rather, bouncing on his feet. When he spotted Kakashi he didn't waste any time running up to him with a big smile. "Rival! I won! The score is now 46-47!"

Kakashi leaned back from the loud proclamation in a fruitless attempt to spare his ears, only for Gai to step even closer. "I've soon caught up to you!"

"Yes, yes, great."

Gai continued talking as if he hadn't heard Kakashi. "Now we have two whole days to compete in a wide array of spectacular competitions! Aah! The power of youth! I feel invigorated already! Let's go!"

Gai took off down the road and Kakashi heaved a sigh as he started walking after him, discreetly stretching his tired muscles as he did. Gai turned around some hundred meters down the road and came running back. Kakashi kept his voice at a normal volume as he spoke, "We are on patrol, you know?"

"That is no excuse to slack off! I challenge you to finish the whole patrol of the village in half a day!" Gai reached Kakashi and turned again, sprinting down the road.

"That's not how patrolling works…" Kakashi said even though he was fairly certain that Gai was too far away to hear him. Instead, he turned his attention to the trees; surveying their surroundings. Someone had to do the job they had set out to do. Kakashi raised his voice, "We're out here for two days, please stay focused."

"Then let's make the most of these two days! I challenge you to spot a rogue shinobi first" Gai jogged back to where Kakashi was walking and then took off again— sprinting down the road while looking left and right with comical intensity. Kakashi kept up his walking pace and tilted his head to look up at the cloud-strewn sky.

This was going to be a long mission.

* * *

 

They walked in silence most of the day— or, Kakashi walked in silence but Gai seemed determined to pick up the slack by himself with unwavering enthusiasm. At least he walked alongside Kakashi after they had left the village behind them, keeping his eyes peeled on their surroundings. Gai might have an abundance of energy, but he would never let that interfere with his duty towards the village.

The sun beamed down at them without any real heat, the early summer air fresh against their faces as they walked. The more time passed, the more hopeful Kakashi became that Gai had somehow forgotten about their previous conversation. He knew better than to let his guard down however— Gai was nothing if not tenacious.

Kakashi felt relieved as his aching and tired muscles slowly relaxed as the day went on— and by the time the sun started to set Kakashi had almost forgotten about his tiredness and injuries from the previous mission, Gai's incessant happiness almost managing to drown out his own thoughts.

"Ah! The setting sun and the fresh wind! Such enjoyable sensations to have at the height of our youth!"

"Yes, yes, it's very nice."

"And don't believe I have forgotten! About our earlier conversation!"

Well, he had hoped.

"Can't you at least ease into it? Your subtlety could use some work."

"My youthful energy and concern for my dearest rival can't be contained!"

Kakashi averted his eyes. How could someone say something like that with a straight face? Why would hearing something like that make anyone happy...? "Maybe you should work on that. Subtlety could be good to have on future missions."

"Not to worry! The enemies almost never notice me until it's too late!" Gai beamed at him. Kakashi was lucky that Gai was so easily distracted.

"It's because they don't think you're a threat, not because you're subtle in any way."

"What a comeback! You are so cool, rival!" Gai clenched his fist with a smile on his face. "We should make it a competition!"

"A competition in being the most subtle? How would that even work?"

"I thought you were the genius!"

Kakashi didn't bother to hide the small smile on his face as he shook his head. It didn't really matter what the competition would be— of course he would take Gai up on it. He always did. "We should start looking for a place to set up camp."

Gai looked around them; the forest was empty and quickly getting darker. "Here?"

Kakashi shook his head and pointed over the treetops at a small mountain ahead of them. "Over by those cliffs."

"Sure," Gai said with a thumbs up and a smile.

They walked on, the ground slowly getting steeper beneath their feet.

"So!" Gai clapped his hands and Kakashi tensed up. "I think teaching a team of youthful gennin would really be good for you!"

Kakashi suppressed his sigh. He knew he couldn't avoid the subject forever.  _Shinobi rule nr. 32: A shinobi must never back down from their fears_.

Kakashi opened his mouth to respond, but before he could answer he hesitated. Something up ahead was—

He stopped walking. "Wait. Stop." He held out a hand and Gai stopped beside him.

"Are you trying to change the—"

Kakashi sent him a glare and Gai closed his mouth, a serious expression taking over his face.

"There's someone up ahead." Kakashi nodded his head slightly to the right. "Let's go up into the trees."

Kakashi considered creating a shadow clone, but decided to suppress his chakra instead. They weren't there to fight, and besides; he didn't have a whole lot of chakra stored up after his last mission and preferred to save it until they had a better grasp of what they were up against. Gai didn't bother following suit; his chakra levels were generally low enough to not risk detection.

They climbed the closest tree in silence, stopping on a branch near the top.

The diminishing light was a welcomed aid as they hid themselves while peering down at the lone figure on the ground. Whoever it was sat unmoving in the evening shadows of a big tree and if it hadn't been for their sloppily suppressed chakra, then it would have been near impossible to make them out from their surroundings.

Most likely a lookout for the rogue shinobi. A lookout that wasn't well-trained enough to suppress their chakra— or strong enough that they felt they didn't need to. Kakashi and Gai exchanged glances. They should retreat and report their discovery to the Hokage.

Kakashi took a small step, turning slightly to back away, when the woman on the ground got to her feet. The setting sun glinted off a kunai that appeared in her hand.

They had just enough time to get out of the way before a sudden impact shattered the branch they had been sitting on.

Kakashi twisted in the air and got a glimpse of a second shinobi; long legs and with a smile on his face as he kicked off from the remnants of the branch. Kakashi threw three swift kunai which proved his theory right; the newly arrived shinobi used his legs to deflect the weapons in one swift kick. Strong and fast, probably specialized in taijutsu.

Kakashi cursed himself for not noticing the other person from the beginning. He couldn't afford any more slip-ups like that. He had to do better. "Gai. Take the one behind us, watch out for his legs. I'll take care of the one on the ground."

"Sounds good, rival!"

"We can't afford to let any of them get back to their base."

Gai nodded with a determined expression on his face. "I know."

As soon as Kakashi hit the ground he was off; sprinting towards the woman and not sparing the shinobi behind him any more thought— Gai would take care of it.

The woman was still standing with her kunai raised, but there was something different about her now. Her entire body seemed to have hardened into flat, hard, surfaces. In the limited light surrounding them it looked disturbingly close to stone.

Before he had the time to come up with a viable strategy that took his limited supply of chakra into consideration, she charged him.

Kakashi raised his left hand to block the hit and was stunned as it connected. Her fist  _was_ hard as stone and with considerable force backing it up. A second punch landed on his right forearm as he shielded his face— the force of the blow cruelly reminding him of his stab-wound. Kakashi sucked in a pained breath.

The breath came of use as he hastily signed a fire-seal with his left hand and breathed out. Flames licked up the rogue shinobi's front and she took a quick step back.

An opening.

Kakashi didn't waste any time as he drew a kunai and attacked, stabbing the weapon into her exposed midsection. The blade skidded off her skin without making a scratch.

She smiled and returned the favor; the blow connecting with Kakashi's stomach and even though he stepped with it to minimize the impact it still drove the air from his lungs and his step became a stumble.

The next blow was aimed at his head and Kakashi used substitution jutsu to get away— he couldn't afford to get hit again even if it cost him some of his quickly dwindling chakra.

Her punch shattered the log that took his place forcefully enough that Kakashi had to deflect some of the splinters as if they were throwing weapons. She was  _strong._

Time to change tactics.

Kakashi took a deep breath and pulled up his headband. He was willing to sacrifice some chakra if it meant that they would be able to end this fight quickly and report back to the Hokage.

The woman in front of him froze in place as Kakashi opened his left eye. "Sharingan…"

A split second later she formed a quick succession of hand-seals, raised her hands high, and slammed them into the ground.

Kakashi had just enough time to recognize the seals, shout out a warning to Gai, and escape up a tree. He was relieved to see Gai break away from the fight and jump to his side without hesitation at his words.

The ground crumbled.

For as far as they could see, the ground cracked and heaved; trees tilting and breaking apart. They had to hold on tight as to not get thrown off when the tree they were sitting in tilted sharply to the side. The shinobi that Gai had been fighting didn't seem surprised as he took refuge in a tall tree a safe distance from them.

Kakashi cursed himself for his currently low chakra— he was not able to counter an attack like that without risking ending up completely drained and a burden to Gai. That just wouldn't do.

The shinobi on the ground wrenched her hand out of the ground and looked up at her companion. "Go!"

The other shinobi hesitated. "But I can't just—"

She shook her head and repeated, "We can't risk them taking the others by surprise. Go."

He hesitated a split second longer before taking off, his long legs propelling him forward with incredible speed.

The Hokage's instructions ran through Kakashi's head: "Information gathering takes priority, and above all else; if you do find something, make sure  _they_  don't find out about it. We can't allow them to have the time to prepare a defense."

He realized that they were in the same position as the rogue shinobi; they couldn't afford to let any one of them get away.

Gai sent Kakashi a look from the corner of his eye. "We've got to sto—"

The tree they were perched on suddenly shattered and Kakashi looked down to see the woman standing below it; fist deep in the splintered trunk. "Can you really afford to look away?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Sorry for the slow update, chapter 3 will be up faster than this :)  
> Thank you for the comments and kudos so far! They really make my day!! :)  
> I hope you're having a good day!


	3. Chapter 3

Kakashi and Gai exchanged a quick look before Gai rushed the rogue shinobi standing beneath them and Kakashi took a step in the direction of the one who was running away. A pained grunt from Gai as his fist connected with the hard plating covering his opponent made Kakashi stop in his tracks.

Kakashi threw a kunai in the running shinobi's direction, hoping to at least slow him down, before jumping down to join the fight— delivering a couple of swift kicks to the shinobi's shoulder and not even earning himself a reaction.

Gai gave him a quick nod and reared back for a kick, Kakashi moved out of the way and watched as the kick hit their opponent in the chest and she took a stumbling step back. Kakashi didn't wait for her to recover before he followed up the attack with a kick to the head before quickly drawing back again, out of her reach.

She shook her head and refocused on Gai and drew back her arm, but Gai dodged to the side long before the punch reached him. Gai stepped in to continue his barrage, alternating between punches and kicks, and Kakashi retreated a bit further to get out of his way— pulling down his headband as he went. His sharingan wouldn’t be of much us in this fight with the low amount of chakra he had available to him. Kakashi watched Gai let loose with a flurry of kicks and punches. It had been a while since Kakashi had seen Gai truly fight and it was a sight to behold— equal measures impressive and intimidating. It wasn’t hard to see how he had gotten the nickname “the blue beast of Konoha.”

Their opponent took another stumbling step back, and then another as she was forced back by Gai's attacks. Kakashi was foolish enough to allow himself a second to relax and before he knew it, Gai had stopped in the middle of a kick.

The rogue shinobi had Gai's leg caught in her right hand and Kakashi had just enough time to take a step in their direction before she threw another punch.

The blow connected with Gai's stomach and sent him flying— landing him against a tree trunk some hundred meters away.

Kakashi fought the instinct to rush to Gai's side, but he knew the other wasn't going to get downed by something like that. Instead he readied himself for what was sure to come next, and sure enough; their opponent kept her eyes on Gai a second longer before she turned towards him with a confident smile on her lips— tasting victory. That second was all he needed.

Kakashi pressed himself tighter against the uprooted tree as he watched the shadow clone he had just made attack her with a kunai in each hand. If she insisted on hiding behind her armor, then he wouldn't put himself out in the open.

The clone lasted all of five seconds. At the same time as the rogue shinobi pulled the clone's right leg clean off and delivered a kick to its chest that sent it flying, Kakashi saw Gai get to his feet with a shocked expression on his face.

Despite this, Gai wasted no time before kicking off; moving across the ground fast enough to make Kakashi question whether it really was crumpled and split.

The rogue shinobi raised her hands; not in an effort to block, but to hit back. Kakashi didn't wait for them to clash before he threw a few well-aimed shuriken that found their home in the joints between the stone-like plates covering her skin. She screamed as she stopped in her advance to pull them out. Even if they didn't slow her down significantly, at least they proved that she could be made to bleed.

Instead of taking full advantage of the small opening they had managed to create together, Gai froze and whipped around in Kakashi's direction with wide eyes. His eyes landed on Kakashi's partially obscured form behind the uprooted tree and a big smile spread across his face. Kakashi had no idea what brought on the sudden change of mood in the other; their enemy was still standing. Gai wasn't one to usually get distracted in a fight and Kakashi felt himself tense up as their opponent pulled the last shuriken from her shoulder. Thankfully this seemed to shake Gai out of whatever thoughts had distracted him and he tore his eyes away from Kakashi to face her.

The fight quickly devolved into a competition of strength and stamina where each hit could kill if it found its intended mark. Despite the power Kakashi knew lay behind every punch Gai threw, the rogue shinobi matched him hit for hit.

This was taking too long.

Soon the running shinobi would be out of their reach and the rogues would know that they had been found. There wasn't a lot left to lose.

After the decision had been made Kakashi wasted no time in creating a Chidori— the well-known tingling sensation of it travelling up his arm and making his hair stand on end where it passed.

Gai sent him a quick look before jumping back— leaving the rogue shinobi open.

Kakashi rushed the shinobi who smiled as she raised her arms in a protective stance, confident that her defenses would be able to take anything he threw at her. People who were overconfident in their own abilities were the easiest ones to take down. He knew this firsthand.

Her smile froze on her face as Kakashi's hand smashed through her arms and into her chest. The force of the impact travelled up his arm and he had to grit his teeth against the pain blooming from the wound on his right arm.

Kakashi didn't spare her a second look as he turned towards Gai and looked him over. He felt relieved when he seemed to be holding up okay. There was no reason to retreat then; they would carry out their mission and stop the runner from reporting back to his companions.

"Let's go."

Gai looked up from Kakashi's right leg and Kakashi was surprised to see the serious expression in the other's eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Kakashi said as he flexed the fingers on his right hand and covered up a wince. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I—" Gai hesitated before shaking his head. "No, it's nothing."

Kakashi decided not to push it and took off in the direction the running shinobi had disappeared through the trees, ignoring the warm trickle he felt running down his arm and hoped that Gai would too. The wound must have re-opened when he used the Chidori, but they didn't have the time to take care of it now. He would survive.

Gai came up beside him and Kakashi was relieved when he spoke in his usual energetic tone of voice. "How will we catch up to the runner, rival? He's got a head start!"

Kakashi's eyes landed on a dark spot on the ground and saw similar ones dotted through the underbrush leading forward. "We follow the blood. The kunai I threw seems to have hit something."

It was hard to separate the drops of blood from the foliage in the falling darkness, but not impossible.

"Good thinking! We'll catch up to him in no time!" Gai increased his speed and Kakashi pushed himself to keep up, ignoring the way his legs complained at the strain. They had almost had the whole day to rest, that would have to be enough. He had no right to complain. He was a weapon.

Gai looked back over his shoulder at Kakashi; annoyingly indifferent to the punishing speed they were keeping. "We should report back to the village about what we've found and ask for reinforcements."

"If we don't hurry, then there won't be anything left to report. They will already be gone."

"We can send Ningame!"

"…A turtle?" Kakashi scoffed, easily falling back into the pattern of the familiar topic. "If we want the job done correctly we can send one of my ninken."

"Ha!" Gai's laugh echoed in the quiet forest. "Ningame is faster! And besides, if we stumble upon their base I think you'll need all the chakra you can get."

Sometimes Gai was way too perceptive.

Kakashi resolutely refrained from feeling grateful that he didn't have to use some of his decidedly small remaining supply of chakra. Instead he settled for a scoff. "And you won't?"

"I don't need those fancy tricks to win, rival! You know that!"

Without breaking his stride, Gai summoned Ningame and instructed the turtle to report that they had found the rogue shinobis and were tracking one of them, possibly back to their hideout. Ningame didn't question the situation before disappeared into the dark.

Kakashi did his best to keep his focus on the small droplets of blood leading their way through the dark. Time seemed to stretch out as they moved through the trees; the familiar thrill of the hunt drowning out all else until nothing existed besides Kakashi, the trail, and the pray waiting at the other end of it.

"Wait. You're hur—" Something suddenly grabbed Kakashi's sleeve and before he had time to fully register what was happening he had spun around with a kunai in his right hand— aimed right at his attacker's throat.

A hand caught his forearm in an iron grip and the kunai stopped a few centimeters from the face behind him. Kakashi froze as he realized that it was Gai looking back at him with wide eyes.

Gai quickly let Kakashi's arm go, wincing as he did so. "Sorry! I didn't mean to grab your arm, but, well…"

"No. I'm sorry. I—" The excuse died on Kakashi's lips. He had no excuse. Gai kept his eyes locked on Kakashi's arm and he cursed internally as he felt something drip from his fingers. They didn't have time for Gai's worry right now.

"We should bandage it."

Kakashi blew out a frustrated breath. "We should make sure to catch the runner before they reach the camp and report two Shinobi from the Hidden Leaf attacking them. We should follow the Hokage's orders."

"You won't be of much use if you pass out from blood loss before we can take him out."

"I won't do that." If it was one thing Kakashi prided himself in it was knowing exactly how far he could push himself before his body gave up. "It's not a big deal. I barely even noticed it."

"How can you not notice it?! You are dripping blood!"

Kakashi frowned as he shrugged, not sure how to answer that. Pushing down all of your emotions could have some side-effects.

"The wound is from your last mission, right?"

Once again, Kakashi didn't answer.

"Why didn't you say anything?! We should never have gone on this patrol!"

"I can finish this mission. I would never put my pride over the safety of others," Kakashi said in a cold voice. How  _dare he_ think that he would take a mission he wouldn't be able to complete? Was his belief in him so feeble? Did he think so badly of him?

"I know that! It's not the mission I'm worried about!" Gai said with a frown as he quickly brought out his first-aid kit and re-dressed Kakashi's arm— eyes lingering on the improvised stitches a bit too long for comfort.

Kakashi was surprised to realize that he wanted to make the frown on Gai's face go away. It didn't suit him.

Within a minute, Gai put his kit back in its place and Kakashi pulled his sleeve back down. They had wasted enough time. "If you're done, then let's go."

Gai nodded and Kakashi opened his mouth to thank him, to express a fraction of the gratitude he felt for all that Gai had done for him, but nothing came out and before he could gather enough courage, Gai had took off running again.

Kakashi shook his head and followed.  _Weak_.

They continued their chase through the trees, but it wasn't long until the trail of blood they had been following stopped, and so did they.

Kakashi squinted in front of them, but was unable to make out any sign that would point them in the right direction. "So he finally managed to get the wound to stop bleeding."

"It's getting too dark to see anyway. How will we—"

Kakashi held a hand up for Gai to stop talking and raised the other to pinch the top of his mask. He fought the instinct to send Gai a look, but from the corner of his eye he saw Gai pointedly look away to the side. Gai was close to the only person alive who Kakashi would allow to see him without his mask on, but that didn't mean that he wasn't grateful for the darkness surrounding them.

He pulled his mask down from over his nose and took a deep breath— the smell of his surroundings immediately assaulted his senses. Kakashi wrinkled his nose as he ignored the strong scent of their combined sweat and his own blood, instead focusing on picking out the one thing they needed. The blood may have stopped dripping, but the smell lingered. "That way," Kakashi said as he pulled the mask back up and took off.

They followed the invisible trail through the trees, Kakashi pulling down his mask now and then to make sure they were on the right track. Each and every time Gai averted his eyes and every time Kakashi felt a surge of shame for the gratitude that built inside him. He shouldn't create even more problems for the people around him, he wasn't worth the effort.

Just as he was about to reprimand Gai for his unnecessary actions, several new smells made themselves known.

Something faintly metallic was close by, not the usual smell of weapons, but something covered in old blood. Kakashi sorted the information away as he focused on the other revelation. "There's people up ahead. A lot of them."

Kakashi pulled his mask back up and slowed down, Gai staying close to his side as they crept forward. It wasn't long until they saw something move between the trees. The forest opened up into a large clearing and the moon above gave them enough light to see by.

From their vantage point behind a dense brush they saw a surprisingly big camp stretch out in front of them; occupied by armed shinobi and a distinct lack of flags or other identifying markings. They had found the main camp of the rogue shinobis. If they could report this back to the Hokage, then—

A loud voice drew their attention to the middle of the clearing and Kakashi felt a cold dread settle over him as his eyes landed on the running shinobi they had been following. They had failed.

The runner had reached the hideout and now the enemies would be aware of them. They had failed their mission. They had failed their village.

Before his hand had even closed around his kunai, Gai had grabbed it. Kakashi looked up and Gai shook his head with hard eyes before whispering, "Too many."

Kakashi sent another look around the clearing and realized that he was right; there were too many enemies present. Their best course of action was to stay put and wait for backup. There was nothing more they could do to not make the situation worse.

Kakashi looked back at Gai and saw the same frustration in his eyes. He could feel himself deflate and Gai let go of Kakashi's hand as they both settled in deeper in the brush's shadow.

The runners voice drew his attention again as he spoke to a short woman in front of him. "But a couple of shinobi from Konoha attacked us!"

"Why did you run, then?" Her voice was calm, but even from their distance they could see the man tensing up at the question.

"They were strong. We didn't—"

"If you can't even handle a couple of their shinobi, then how will you be able to handle the whole village?"

The man stuttered a second before managing to force out, "We weren't ready."

"Where's your partner?"

Kakashi noticed that the people in the camp had moved towards the edges of the clearing; discreetly putting distance between themselves and the ongoing conversation.

"She— she stayed and fought them."

"I think it sounds like maybe it was  _you_ who weren't ready," the woman said and Kakashi realized that her voice wasn't calm, it was  _icy._

"No, I— I mean— I needed to warn you. They have obviously gotten some information about the plan to attack them tomorrow morning and we should—"

The voice was cut short and replaced with a gurgling sound. Kakashi wasn't able to see exactly what she had done— he hadn't even seen her move, but the man fell to the ground with a dull thud, still uttering those guttural sounds and clawing at his throat.

_Tomorrow morning_. They were attacking tomorrow morning. All thought to retreat and wait for backup disappeared at once. They had to act now.

The woman looked down at the convulsing man in disgust as she hissed in the relative silence, "Yes, great work you god damned loud-mouth. You managed to lead them right here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a bit rushed, but I still hope you enjoyed it!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

Kakashi could feel Gai tense up beside him as the leader fixed her gaze directly in their direction— unhindered by the darkness and the cover of the bush they had taken refuge under. They couldn't retreat and leave the rogue shinobi free to carry out their plan to attack the village, but if they attacked the big group of enemies head on then their likelihood of success was very low.

"You can come out now,  _hidden_ leaf shinobis." The leader took a step away from their felled comrade, who was now lying still on the ground with hands frozen around their own throat.

The time to think was out. Not that there had been much of a choice to begin with.

Kakashi looked at Gai and they both nodded. He quickly formed a couple of hand-seals as Gai got to his feet.

The transfer into the ground was always uncomfortable, made doubly so by his aching body and his chakra loss, but Kakashi wasted no time adjusting before he moved forward. He had to act fast; he had no way of knowing what happened above ground and the leader could move from her position at any time. And besides, he didn't want to leave Gai alone up on the surface with only his clone as backup for too long.

Kakashi stopped his movement below the area where the leader had been standing and reached upwards; bursting from the ground with his left hand extended and ready to grasp the leader's legs and pull her down.

His hand closed around thin air.

Kakashi looked up and felt his eyes widen as they landed on the leader; standing still several meters up in the air without any apparent aid. Kakashi whipped his head around only to find Gai frozen in place, limbs posed as if he was in the middle of a running step but not moving a muscle; several thin lines of blood criss-crossing his front. Kakashi's clone was suspended in mid-air in front of Gai and as Kakashi watched  _something_  tightened around the clone's arms and bent them backwards into a sickening angle.

The moonlight reflected off a line stretching out from the clone and towards the leader; thin as a spider's web. Kakashi suddenly realized that the same smell he had caught a hint of at the edge of the clearing was back, only much stronger.

A wave of realization washed over him and Kakashi glanced down at the fallen runner, now lying at his feet. Beneath the fingers of his hands he could see lines circling his throat— as if thin wires had been pulled tight enough around his neck to cut into the skin.

Kakashi moved at once; using some of his remaining chakra to body-flicker over to Gai and immediately bringing down his kunai on the wires keeping him captured.

They were surprisingly tough and Kakashi had a second to worry that they wouldn't break until they suddenly yielded under his blade; falling away from Gai in loose threads.

At the same time, his clone twitched one last time before dissipating.

The leader gave a short laugh from her position in the air; glancing down at them both with a small smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Let's try this again, shall we? And this time, do try to give me a challenge."

Kakashi saw movement out of the corner of his eye and realized that the shinobi in the camp were slowly circling them; cutting off any means of escape.

Gai took a step towards the leader and Kakashi reached out to grab his arm; stopping him in his tracks. "Don't charge into this blindly. If you get caught in the wires then your own speed and strength can seriously hurt you." Kakashi gave the thin wounds covering Gai's front a pointed look.

"I won't be so careless! But I appreciate your concern." Gai's smile was genuine, but didn't last long. "You take her, then. Leave the rest of them to me."

Kakashi quickly scanned the area, counting upwards of thirty shinobi slowly advancing on them. Maybe they should have gone back, maybe they shouldn't have— Gai placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed tight, making Kakashi refocus on his partner. "You sure you can take them all?"

"You'll have my back if I need it." It wasn't a question, and Kakashi didn't need to answer. They both knew he would. With that, Kakashi ignored his aching body and pounding head as he raised his headband up once more; exposing his left eye.

He forced it open and was immediately greeted by a disheartening sight. The whole clearing was covered in the thin wires as if they made up a spiders-web; entirely coated in a thin layer of chakra. The whole structure seemed to emirate from the middle of the clearing, right from the leader of the rogue shinobis. Kakashi very nearly had to squint his eyes as he looked at her; her chakra strong enough to almost be pulsating in the darkness. So  _that_ was how she had noticed them approaching, she had essentially set out trap-wires around the whole camp. Her reach was something else.

"Go that way, the wires are more spread out over there," Kakashi said as he gestured for a way for Gai to get to the edge of the clearing with minimal chance of getting caught in the wires. "Focus on luring the rest of them into the trees. I don't think the wires extend too far into the woods."

Gai nodded and followed his direction as he took off towards the edge of the clearing with impressive speed, already having opened the first gate.

There was a sudden swishing sound all around and Kakashi's sharingan followed the movements of hundreds of wires as they suddenly seemed to come to life. The leader stood at the point that they all converted in mid-air with a sneer on her face as her gaze was fixed on Gai's back. "Don't think I'll let you out of my net so easily, little fly."

Gai didn't slow down or look over his shoulder and the display of trust washed over Kakashi in the form of adrenaline; he would make sure he met that foolhardy man's expectations.

He formed a familiar sequence of hand-signs and slammed his hands down on the ground, ignoring the way his right arm screamed out in pain and feeling a sense of satisfaction as a wall of earth rose up between Gai and the leader who was still suspended in the air. From all around he could hear the tell-tale pinging sound of wires getting severed by the sudden obstacle.

The leader fell from her position in the air as her supports snapped, letting out an angry shout as she did. Before she hit the ground, the wires moved to catch her and she turned her angry eyes on Kakashi. "Well, if you're that impatient, let's start with you instead."

With Kakashi's sharingan he saw the wires going from thread-thin and nearly unnoticeable to thick as rope in an instance; the increased chakra coating them like a thick shell. They moved with impossible precision as hundreds of them encircled the leader and formed a perfect sphere. Then she attacked.

All at once; multiple wires shot out in every direction, reaching him in an instance. Kakashi jumped back as he dodged, fending of wires with his kunai and not feeling surprised that the blade no longer managed to sever them. He landed several meters away, forming the first hand-seal for another earth wall to limit her movements when he felt something snake up his leg; wiry-thin but hard as steel. Before he had the time to react, his whole torso was incased in the chakra-covered wires.

"Thanks for opening up a way underground for me to use. Much appreciated." The leader smiled from her position up in the air and Kakashi's eyes followed the sight of a couple of the wires disappearing down into a hole in the ground beneath her. The very hole he had dug out.

"Now you can watch as your dear  _friend_ ," she said the word like a curse, "suffers the same fate as your clone did earlier."

Kakashi's eyes sought out Gai, visible in between the trees where he was fighting several shinobi at once, oblivious to the impeding attack. Trusting that Kakashi had his back.

She splayed out her hands and the wires followed her motion; spreading out in the clearing as they moved toward where Gai was fighting.

Kakashi cast around for something he could do, but he couldn't move and he couldn't think, and what if he would be the cause of Gai—His eyes caught on the wires stretching out between the leader and himself; tethering him in place.

His own carelessness had gotten him caught, but he refused to let his mistake affect Gai negatively. Besides, if he could bring an enemy down with him, then who was he to complain?

Without wasting a second Kakashi mustered up his remaining chakra and called out, "You call these strong? They are easier to cut than thread!"

The leader whipped her head around to look at him, "Wha—"

Kakashi felt the familiar strain of casting a genjutsu as they locked eyes, but he was only able to keep it up for a few seconds as he felt himself nearing the end of his chakra reserve. She shook her head as she came back to herself; the wild-eyed stare brought on by his illusions quickly morphing into anger. "You little shit! How dare you?!"

It had been short, but it had been enough for her to momentarily lose her hold on the wires; giving him enough room to move his hands. Ox, rabbit, monkey.

Kakashi sucked in a breath and grabbed a wire extending between them.

The electricity went from familiar to frightening in the blink of an eye. It crashed into Kakashi like a brick wall and even through the intense pain he found himself fascinated by the way his whole body tensed up and his jaw slammed shut. At least it managed to muffle his screams a bit.

He desperately and instinctively tried to escape the pain, but the wires kept him in place. He realized that he wouldn't have been able to let the wire go even if he wanted to; his hand was cramping up around it with a painfully tight grip, keeping the electricity flowing through it and into his body. Despite this, he refused to release the Chidori until a distant part of his brain registered that the wires loosened around him; taking that as his queue that he had succeeded.

His arm fell away from the wire at the same time as he fell down on the ground; legs unable to support his weight on their own.

He barely felt his knees hit the ground.

Kakashi closed his eyes against the vertigo and tried to get his breathing under control. He felt acutely vulnerable like this; alone in the middle of an enemy camp. If the rogue shinobi wanted to finish him off, there wasn't a lot he could do about it and he hated that. The world seemed to pulse in time with the pain in his body— shapes and sounds losing their meaning as Kakashi did his best to stay conscious. He needed to know if Gai was okay, he needed to get up and fight.

He could hear several different voices as if from far away, distorted and confusing. One of them distinguished themselves from the others; a safe haven in all the chaos. "Kakashi!"

Kakashi slowly raised his head and blinked his eyes several times to make out the sight of something green rushing towards him.

Kakashi raised a numb arm and shakily formed what he hoped was a thumbs up.

Something grabbed his shoulders and Kakashi blinked at the pain that accompanied it, even as it felt weirdly distant; someone else's. His outstretched arm fell to his side uselessly.

"Are you okay?"

Kakashi meant to say  _Of course I am,_ but the only thing that escaped his lips was a grunt. He felt fine, so why wouldn't his body just cooperate? It didn't even hurt anymore.

"Kakashi?" Gai asked and if the fact that Gai used his given name wasn't alarming enough, he hadn't heard Gai sound so quiet and scared since they were children, if even then. Gai was still looking at him, but Kakashi had trouble understanding why. Had he asked him something? Was Gai okay? ...What where they doing?

This time when Kakashi tried to talk, not even a grunt escaped his lips as his throat refused to work. The hands on his shoulders tightened their grip as the ground suddenly tilted sideways at a worrying angle. Gai seemed to dissolve into a floating mass of black and green in the center of his darkening vision. Kakashi blinked slowly.

"I will get you home. Just hold on."

Before Kakashi had a change to point out that Gai didn't have to get him home, he could walk fine by himself, a sudden sharp pain emanated from his chest; robbing him of whatever breath he had managed to gather.

"Hey, Kakashi! Stay awake!" He heard Gai's voice from above, sounding very close, and disturbingly panicked. Gai didn't panic. Suddenly someone was shouting, Kakashi wasn't sure what, but it was quickly followed by a hand pressing on his wrist, another at his throat, and then; a weight over his chest. Before he had the time to make sense of what was happening, everything went blessedly dark.

* * *

 

The world came back in disorienting bursts.

Every time his consciousness rose towards the surface he became aware of a sound close by; a voice he couldn't place talking in words he couldn't make out. Despite this, the sound of it was familiar and filled him with a sense of safety as it lulled him back into unconsciousness.

Kakashi had no idea how much time had passed when he finally managed to stay conscious long enough to become aware of the fact that he was lying down on something soft and warm.

It took tremendous effort to simply open his eye and look around the small room he found himself in. He had been a patient at the village's hospital enough times to recognize what their rooms looked like.

"Kakashi?"

Kakashi finally managed to place the voice that had been with him the whole time and turned his head slowly towards the source of it. "Gai?"

His voice was rough and hurt his throat coming out, but the smile that simple word put on the face of the man sitting beside his bed was worth it all.

"Kakashi! You're awake!"

Kakashi winced at the volume, but wasn't able to contain his relieved smile as he took in the sight of Gai; whole and alive. "My ears wish I wasn't."

Gai laughed and Kakashi felt something tighten around his left hand. He glanced down and his eye widened in wonder at the calloused hand laid out over his own, wondering what he had done to deserve such compassion.

Kakashi made no attempt to withdraw from the contact, but instead looked away from the blinding smile beside him to stare up at the ceiling. It was only so much he could take at once.

After several seconds of Gai simply staring at Kakashi in silence, Kakashi spoke again; his voice barely strong enough to break the silence as he looked back down at Gai. "By the way, I spotted the shinobi first. That means I won our challenge, right?"

Gai's smile didn't falter even as big tears started rolling down his cheeks. "I don't care about the score!"

"I never thought I would hear you say that." Kakashi huffed and tried to hide the wince that followed. "Am I dead after all?"

"Don't joke about that!" Gai looked at him as if he had hit where it actually hurt and Kakashi frowned. Gai's eyes were a bit to earnest for comfort as he continued, "It was never about the score."

Kakashi knew that Gai's competitions had never been simply challenges, and he knew that Gai hadn't started issuing them for his own sake. "I know."

Gai nodded. "I'm glad." It was said without a smile, but Kakashi didn't doubt it.

"How did you manage to get us out of there?" Kakashi already felt exhaustion creep up on him, but he had to know. He had no misgivings about Gai's proves in battle, but he had seen how many enemies that had still been standing when he passed out.

"Oh, so you didn't see the reinforcements arrive?" Gai asked with surprise in his voice and Kakashi shook his head. "Ah, well. Yes, I guess you wouldn't have…"

Gai looked down at their hands as he trailed off. The silence stretched long enough for Kakashi to almost fall back asleep, but he was startled by Gai speaking again; voice low and unfamiliarly sad. "Ningame came back just as you took out the leader. The surprise of her defeat and the sudden arrival of our backup was enough to make the remainder of the enemies give up without much of a fight."

Kakashi gave a small nod and muttered out a slurred, "Well, that went better than planned."

"Kakashi… You have electric burns on your right hand and on your chest, stitches on your right arm, and severe chakra exhaustion. And, that stunt you pulled with the Chidori, well… your… your heart stopped."

Kakashi had no idea what to say to that, so he summoned strength he didn't know he had and managed to turn his left hand over, grabbing Gai's hand that was placed over it and giving it a weak squeeze. "I'm still here, right?"

Gai squeezed back. "Yes, you are. Thank you for that."

Kakashi wanted to convey his own gratitude to the other; for always being there for him and believing in him, no matter how little he did so himself, but he had no words to cover it all. Instead, he forced his eye open and looked up at Gai sitting beside him, giving the only thing he could at the moment; a smile.

Gai's own small smile grew as he once again teared up. "No problem, rival."

Kakashi didn't remove his hand from Gai's tight hold as he drifted off to sleep again, safe in the knowledge that he wouldn't be alone when he woke up again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading my story! I had a lot of fun writing it! :)
> 
> If you want to leave a comment or kudos, that would mean a lot. And to all of you who have commented; thank you so much! It means a lot to hear that people are enjoying what I'm writing :)
> 
> I wish all of you the best!!!


End file.
